I removed the word 'balance' from my vocabulary many years ago, unless of course, I'm speaking about my checking account, which even then has had it's daft tallied moments! What I'm talking about here is the use of the word 'balance' when referencing our lives. It's like one more thing we use against ourselves when we don't quite measure up to what we're told a balanced life ought to look like. I know I used to feel a mess when my relationships were not flowing in perfect harmony, or I was raising my boys as a single mom and juggling a full-time job, plus going to school. Shoot, the mere thought that I was out-of-balance caused feelings of imbalance!
Who the heck are these people anyway, that write about having these wonderful 'balanced' lives? If they do exist, would they be the ones we would want to call when going through something challenging?
This so called balanced life bears resemblance to 'perfection' and let me just tell you as someone who struggled with perfectionism for most of my life - there's no such thing! It's an endless mountain of delusion that we will never scale and conquer. The summit will remain forever just beyond our reach, because our lives are rarely in perfect equilibrium. Life is like a wave. It goes up, it comes down and sometimes tosses us all around. That's how we grow and become even greater versions of ourselves.
So I think I'll just get really good at surfing, since I'm most at peace when I embrace this beautiful mess called - my life.
Hang ten baby!